Ebf - will formula help baby sleep more?

When we swapped to formula with our first, sleep got worse. Weaning helped, but mostly it was just waiting til she was older.

If you go a longer stretch without pumping it will eventually probably cause a decrease and you will be engorged for a while until it regulates. Offering formula will maybe help baby sleep it really depends on the baby. Most ebf baby’s don’t go longer than a 4-5 hour stretch as that is sleeping through the night. Formula may cause some stomach issues also baby may not take to it well for a while. Do you pump at all? You could pump before the last feed of the night and have your partner feed baby. Bottles are less work to drink from so it could give you a longer stretch. Hmm sounds like your baby might be going through a four month sleep regression maybe

ah yes i didnt think of the supply issue 😩. I have friends who ebf and their babies seem to either sleep 8-5 or 10-6 😅 think i must have a very awake baby. I did think about tummy issues as well with formula so could make the sleep worst. Yeah I have pumped and my partner would give him a bottle but he still wakes up after 2-3 hours. I wish it was a regression but he has been like this since birth 😅

thanks Holly, was that because she didnt like the formula and it gave her tummy issues? I guess maybe i just need to wait it out

They no longer say that formula fed babies can 1. Go for longer or 2. Sleep longer. I think you just have an awake baby!
We co-sleep and apart from the regression he’s doing amazing, is that an option to try? You might just have a baby who wants to be close to mama all the time so when they wake they can’t settle! X

Thanks Annie! We did actually co-sleep for his first 8/10 weeks and then found he slept better and wanted to be in his next to me. Maybe we need to revert back to co-sleeping though

I EBF and my baby doesn't really do a longer stretch than 1½-2hrs on a night before he's due a feed, but he's the same during the day too. He stays asleep feeding on a night and rarely properly wakes x

She loved the formula just as much as breastmilk, no tummy issues. It made me wonder why I'd been beating myself up over pumping for so long when she didn't even bat an eyelid (I was EP)

I think the formula was less nutritious than my breastmilk, so it didn't keep her full for as long. While I still had a stash, I used to do the night feeds as breastmilk to keep her down longer.

We tried this for the first time last night as she usually cries and doesn’t take much when I breast feed her before bed (never sure if this was because she was tired and didn’t want any or because the milk wasn’t coming out fast enough). My supply isn’t good enough to pump throughout the day to give her a bottle at night so thought we’d try one formula bottle. She drank the whole thing so we were feeling positive about more sleep… nope, exactly the same, if anything she woke up half an hour earlier than her usual first feed 😂

this is what i was thinking of doing just to see if it helps tbh, glad it has worked for you 🙌

its so much effort pumping so fair play to you doing this! How many oz of breastmilk did you give her before bed?

this is very similar to me! I was pumping but id have to do it throughout the day to collect 4-5oz to store away as i could never get much in one go. Thats so frustrating that she didnt sleep longer 😩, this is my worry that i’ll try it and it wont help and then i’ll feel sad i didnt just continue with bfing

Totally understand the feeling sad thing, I felt like I was betraying her with it! But this morning I just think it was one meal, I’m still EBF her, it’s no different to me giving her some solid food in a couple of months 🤷🏻‍♀️I did manage to pump a bottle last night so I’m going to try her with that instead before bed tonight!

You’re so right, I didn’t think about it with the whole food thing as well. How many oz are you planning to give her of breastmilk tonight? Maybe i should try this again 😅 and then if no luck just give the formula a go, which formula did you choose? X

I pumped 5oz so going to offer the whole thing I think. We went for kendamil as I’ve read it tastes similar to breast milk (not sure how true that is as I tried a drop of the formula and it has a weird after taste 😂). We got the ready made bottles so we didn’t waste a tub of powder if she didn’t like it.

right I might copy you with the 5oz tonight as i have some stored in the freezer. Ah thats good to know, i was torn between kendamil and hipp organic and good idea on the ready made bottle. Thank you for your advice, nice to know I’m not alone x

You’re never alone, we will sleep again one day 😂❤️

Your not the only one. My baby nearly 5 months officially breast fed and still gets up lots throughout the night . She is a a bigger baby, she won't really take a dummy she likes it for comfort too. I'm guessing it's the regression or like you said maybe once she is fully weaning she'll be okay..we have started with fruits and vegetables pouches for 4 months plus and bit of baby rice but nothing has changed yet to her sleeping. Though it is very thin and only once a day atm. We co sleep too. I think they are growing and so many developments are happening all the time. Sometimes my baby can not sleep most of the day and still go bed and wake up multiple times. I'm assuming we have a baby who doesn't need lots of sleep? Who knows. But not sure formula will make a difference. Xx

thanks Hannah, its nice to know there are lots of us around struggling with the same thing. Its clearly just a case of riding it out I guess and hoping we will all eventually sleep xx

Yes definitely I always get annoyed when people tell me the baby has slept through that is defo not our case. That's it just try not worry about it. I always try nap in the day with my daughter when I'm so tired from the night. But I just think it'll get better. I think breast fed babies are attached more to you. My baby only sleep for long time if she contact naps if it's in the car or prsmbe 30.mins max xx

its so frustrating isnt it. I think I have tried everything they say to help his sleep but nothing works. Same here contact naps he can go for ages and if we are out on a walk in his pram but otherwise its a maximum 30 minutes. I just spent an hour trying to settle him for a nap in his cot 🙃

I gave her as much as she'd drink. It varied every day tbh 😅

If you aren't doing vit D supplements they really help with sleep, and varying how many layers til you find the sweet spot. At this age, lengthening the time between feeds in the day helps too, aim for 3-4hourly x

yes got the vit d supplements and have been making sure he is in quite a few layers as he gets quite cold and our room has dropped loads. Thats something I havent tried actually, i feed him quite frequently in the day in the hope it will fill him up for the night but maybe i need to space it out more. He only feeds for 5-10 minutes at a time sometimes

Yeah its frustrating as like my baby never slept that long. But it should get better when they get older..I just see it as they want to be close as they are bf and it's comforting too. Yeah if I put my daughter down she just wakes up lol she's lil tinker ! I'm just hoping she'll eventually be okay with going sleep independently bit more when she's older. I'm just making most of the cuddles whilst I get them. Yeah I find sometimes she's like that especially if we are out..we had our 3rd jabs today so she's extra clingy and wants me xx

like you said I guess we should enjoy it while we can as soon they wont want to cuddle us as much 😩. Oh bless her, hope she is ok from them. My little boy had his a week ago and was the same x

My first 3 slept through very early, 2 of them BF, so I had such a shock now that my youngest just doesn't sleep well at all. At the moment we are in a phase of wanting to be fully held, I probably get 3 or 4 30min stints a night where I can lay next to her and actually sleep. I tried doing a bottle of formula before bed, it didn't change anything other than her farts were awful 🤣 I just keep telling myself one day she will just go down to sleep and do the whole night, and then I'll soon miss all the cuddles! Xx